Each week, our dedicated Community Organizers bring the farm to you! They pick up and deliver CSA shares to locations all around town, and are the heart of our CSA program. Start a new pickup site and be rewarded with a free weekly food share!

Internships available for “inside” people and “outside” people. If you’d rather not get your hands dirty, there is still plenty you can do to support organic farming. Sales, marketing, community building, web design, graphic design, and public policy are just a few of the skills needed on the farm.

We’ve maintained an open-door policy for volunteers since starting our farm ten years ago. We believe everyone should have the opportunity to experience a working, certified organic farm, especially one that has historical significance to the community.

For those interested in more than occasional volunteering, workshares commit to a set number of hours each week in exchange for a discounted CSA share and available vegetable seconds. Each season we invite a select group of people to participate in this rare opportunity for hands-on learning about all aspects of certified organic farming in Central Texas.

Take Action!

This is an exciting time for the local food movement. People are more interested in creating healthier, more beautiful communities. Local, organic, sustainable farmers need your help to convert this enthusiasm into a stronger food system.

Local Food Organizations

Whenever possible we work through existing organizations to improve working conditions for farmers and to increase access to local food. We have also created new groups as necessary.

Support your local, sustainable, organic food supply

Here are Ten Easy Steps you can take to support the Delicious Revolution:

Help your farmers thrive.

Buy all your groceries from a local, organic farmer. The average sale at our farm stand is $5. That’s just not enough. Professional farmers need your support every week, all year. Resolve to challenge yourself and your friends to buy all your groceries locally. (www.localharvest.org can help you source)

Embrace inconvenience.

Rain or shine, hail or drought, farmers are harvesting and cleaning your food then hauling it to (mostly) unheated, uncovered farmers’ markets where we stand for hours. You need to show up. If you don’t buy our food when we have it, we won’t stay in business. This is especially important for our farm because we have year-round employees.

Tired of shopping in extreme heat and cold? Contact your elected officials, tell them it’s past time for all-weather, farmer-run farmers’ markets.

If you’d rather not come out in all weather, join a CSA to ensure a farmer can pay their bills year round.

Tell your friends and elected officials that local food matters.

Government officials make rules for the organizations they hear from. That’s why your tax dollars subsidize industrial, factory farms. Yes, your dollars go to hog lagoons and high fructose corn syrup, not organic, humane systems.Your voice needs to be heard so small businesses like ours can grow. Small, sustainable farmers in Texas have only one underfunded advocacy group working on their behalf: Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance, FARFA. If you are unwilling to participate in the democratic process, send a donation to FARFA so they can do it for you.

Help us improve the Education Center at Green Gate Farms.

We are redesigning our farm so visitors — we host hundreds of people each year — will leave with a deeper understanding of organic systems. Austin High School students are creating signs and a self-guided tour. Austin Jewish Academy students will begin rebuilding livestock learning areas in January. Please lend a hand. There is something to do for everyone, regardless of age or experience. Funds and Volunteers are needed so we can grow more organic farmers.

Do you know nonprofit organizations that are working on environmental, health, family wellness, food justice issues? Bring them to our farm, invite them to partner with us.

Support the organizations that support us.

When you support these businesses/organizations, you support our farm:

New Farm Institute (the nonprofit organization we created to fund on-farm education initiatives)

There are so many ways you can contribute to building a new food system. This Handout lists even more activities. Have other ideas on what can be done? Send suggestions to info@newfarminstitute.org and we’ll add it.